Dunedin Notebook: McGowan shaking heads
Posted February 28, 2012 3:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DUNEDIN, Fla. – John Farrell has been stingy with praise for his pitchers so far this spring, but Dustin McGowan’s performance during a live batting practice session Tuesday elicited a stream of compliments from the Toronto Blue Jays manager.
The right-hander, catching people’s eye with his command and stuff, dazzled teammates Adam Lind, Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar with his slider and changeup, each of them taking turns walking out of the cage shaking his head.
Farrell, too, came away impressed, pushing aside the usual caution he’s used in assessing his pitchers thus far.
“The fact that he was down in the strike zone, with the kind of power he had, with the heaviness to his fastball, the action to his secondary stuff – he was impressive today, there’s no doubt,” Farrell said.
“He’s having a very good camp. It’s just great to see that after a normal off-season that he’s come back in and probably felt better about himself physically, and I think it’s showing up in the way he’s throwing the baseball.”
McGowan, seeking to extend what’s already been a remarkable comeback from two shoulder surgeries, was also pleased after facing hitters for the first time this spring, saying, “it felt like me.”
The Blue Jays continue to be careful with him as a precaution. McGowan is throwing once every three days instead of every other day like his fellow hurlers for the moment, and will be skipped the first time through the rotation in Grapefruit League play just to give him some extra time to build up.
He’ll be on a normal schedule afterwards.
“All systems go, but I understand them being a little cautious too,” said McGowan. “If that’s what it takes, I’m all for it.”
McGowan is on track to break camp as the team’s fifth starter, and would likely have an innings cap “probably south of 150” because of his long period of recuperation from his surgeries, according to Farrell.
—
RUN, RUN, RUN: The Blue Jays began their base-running work Tuesday with a point of emphasis on being aggressive going first to third and scoring on bloopers.
“We set out a foundation with the base-running to one, get their feet in shape, making their turns, making sure they’re as efficient as possible from a fundamental standpoint,” said Farrell. “We built in the use of some fly ball reads and these are the basics of spring training. We feel it’s one of the areas where attention to detail is required in the number of reps that are required to accomplish that. At the same time, it builds into the mindset and the aggressiveness that we’re trying to use in the game.”
—
MURPHY STILL AWAY: Blue Jays hitting coach Dwayne Murphy continues to be away from the team as he tends to a “family issue and a personal issue,” said Farrell, who adds: “He needed this week to attend to that and deal with everything that’s surrounding it.”
